Heritage conservation yet to find favour with firms for CSR spend

New Delhi, Feb. 24 -- Efforts to conserve India's cultural heritage and art forms, by the government as well as corporates, are far from adequate as preservation of traditional knowledge is not a priority and an absence of funding means a number of traditions are fading away, experts say.
"We have failed to protect so many art forms and now they are lost to us forever. Ustad Asad Ali Khan's death meant the end of the Khandar Vani style played on the rudraveena. The Koodiyattam style of theatre in Kerala has almost no takers now. So much knowledge about our heritage is getting lost everyday," says Kiran Seth, a Padma Shri recipient and founder of SPIC MACAY (Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth).
When central or state governments spend money on heritage conservation, their focus is on tourism, experts say. "So if a monument or a piece of our history is not something a tourist might want to see, it doesn't get funded and therefore becomes dilapidated," explains Ruknuddin Mirza, senior conservation architect at Intach (The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage).
Intach gets funding from the government as well as the corporate sector, though less than 10% of its funds come from the corporate sector.
Intangible heritage, which includes the performing arts, receive hardly any attention, experts say. SPIC MACAY receives funds from the ministry of culture and some organizations such as SRF Ltd and Turner Morrison Company Ltd, and organizations such as Eicher Motors Ltd's former chief executive Vikram Lal in his individual capacity.
"But the interest among the general public is so low that the ministry has slashed our grant by 50% to Rs1 crore in 2015-16. Whatever private funding we get has only been because a few C-level executives personally take interest in the arts. After they are gone, will these companies fund us? I don't think so," Seth says.
While corporate social responsibility (CSR) under the Companies Act, 2013, includes protection of national heritage, funding for this area is limited. According to an analysis carried out by CSR consulting firm NextGen Pvt. Ltd of the top 91 NSE listed firms for FY15-16, funds routed to the cause of 'heritage' conservation or cultural promotion dropped by close to 40%. In the first year of CSR rules, heritage received Rs67.87 crore but the amount fell to Rs40.88 crore in FY16.
A few firms have been funding heritage conservation projects as part of their CSR initiatives. For example, IT giant Infosys Ltd uses part of its CSR budget to restore monuments and hold cultural shows in south India. In 2016, Infosys Foundation (the CSR arm of Infosys) completed a restoration project at the Somanatheswara temple complex at Lakshmeshwara in Karnataka, spending around Rs5 crore over four years. It also organized performances at Lakshmeshwara and Anupu (a restoration spot in Andhra Pradesh).
"I personally travel to select the monuments that need our help. More than the age, we narrow down our selection on the basis of historical and cultural significance of the place. But while we do our part, the locals and state government should also come forward and hold such festivals every year," says Sudha Murty, chairperson, Infosys Foundation.
Infosys spent Rs6.5 crore on art and culture in 2015-16 out of a total CSR spend of Rs247 crore. It has spent Rs3.98 crore this fiscal and may spend more. The foundation plans to switch the venue of the festival each year so that "we can shine the spotlight on more locations", Murty says.
Yes Bank, with the help of Yes Institute, a think-tank, has organized 100 heritage walks and 50 cycle rides at various Delhi heritage spots, including Lodhi Gardens, Qutub Minar and Hauz Khas as part of their CSR activities for 2016. It plans to extend the heritage walks to cities such as Udaipur and Mumbai. With historians leading the walks and rides, participants get authentic information about heritage sites.
"We wanted to take a step towards making citizens more aware about the importance of preserving both tangible and intangible heritage in their city. We decided to introduce a cycle ride to extend our already existing heritage walks because it sensitizes the public to the importance of environmental sustainability, allowing them to sample a non-polluting form of transport," says Preeti Sinha, Yes Bank senior president and global convenor of Yes Institute.
Yes Bank spent Rs29.52 crore on CSR in 2015-16 and plans to spend Rs34 crore in the current fiscal. Yes Institute did not disclose the percentage alloted to heritage and culture.
Most corporates that spend CSR funds on heritage conservation tend to demand faster output or visible recognition of their contribution, sometimes both.
"This is not possible in many cases, especially if it is conservation of a heritage monument by the Archeological Society of India. These projects require attention to minute details, after which repair or modification can be done. That takes time-not something you can finish in a year or two," says K.L. Dhingra, chief executive officer of the National Culture Fund, a funding mechanism established by the Indian government to help preserve both tangible and intangible heritage in partnership with the community.
Dhingra says since 2013 more private firms have reached out to the organization or responded more positively than before. Now, around 60% of funds come from PSUs and 40% from private organizations. The ratio before 2013 was 80:20.
Another challenge that art and culture related projects face is the ability to sustain the inflows. "Many promoter driven organizations fund music or art. But they seldom assign money on a year-on-year basis, unlike the Mahindra Group which funds a Blues (music) festival," says Priya Naik, founder and chief executive, Samhita Social Ventures, a social sector consultancy.
According to Naik, firms that spend a considerable amount of their CSR budget on art or heritage conservation are those whose global teams have a strong push in this direction, such as investment banks.